[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 134 (Tuesday, October 9, 2001)]
[House]
[Pages H6440-H6441]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
NATIONAL PARK SYSTEM DEMONSTRATION FEES
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Schrock). Under a previous order of the
House, the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Souder) is recognized for 5
minutes.
Capital Gains
Mr. SOUDER. Mr. Speaker, first before I discuss what I intend to
discuss here for a few minutes, a matter of importance, the National
Park System, let me make a brief comment on capital gains.
Depending on when the effective date of the capital gains cut came
in, it is unlikely that a whole lot of people in the stock market have
capital gains. But we are also looking at real estate questions, at
companies expanding. And the idea that somehow we will spend our way
out of a recession, rather than grow our way out, is backwards. If we
do not have real substantive incentives to get people back to work in
all sectors of our economy, we are in deep trouble in this economy.
Demonstration Fees
Mr. Speaker, I would like to talk about demonstration fees. This was
supposedly a test to see whether it would relieve the financial
pressures on our national parks. At some point, either this
demonstration has worked or it has not. It is time to either make them
permanent or remove them. In fact, we have had very few complaints,
almost none at most parks. The fees range from $10 to $30 to enter the
park, negligible compared to most entertainment in America. Fees for
special services for those related costs, camping, back country
expenses, are logical because the money goes directly to pay for those
expenses.
These fee dollars have helped supplement the park's complete projects
efforts. For example, 6 percent in 1999 of Yellowstone Park's revenue
were from the demonstrations fee. The less attended park, Theodore
Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota, netted about $300,000 a year
for projects. In the year 2000 that included projects such as boundary
fence repair, overlook trails, radio-collar elk monitoring, trailhead
and interior trail signs throughout the park, new laser slide programs
for a visitor center and an archeological exhibit at the Medora Visitor
Center.
Fee uses are diverse, visitor service usage intensive with these fees
and all, help fund unmet park needs. The long-range source problem is
that Congress and/or the President keep adding additional units to the
National Park Service. This has been especially true or
[[Page H6441]]
has actually been true since the foundation of the Park System and
will always be true. It is only a question of degree. So the park
service gets more units and their budget does not increase at the rate
of responsibilities.
So we have developed associations like the Rocky Mountain National
Nature Association at the Rocky Mountain National Park or the Yosemite
Fund at Yosemite National Park, plus concession fees to help meet these
needs.
The demonstration fees have also helped supplement these budgets.
This has, in fact, led to an unofficial ``crown jewel'' approach.
Former Park Director James Ridenhour argued that Congressional ``park-
barreling'' was diluting the national vision and uniqueness of the
National Park System. In fact, the major natural parks plus the major
cultural parks have the strongest financial support groups and the most
demo fees. People are voting with their own dollars by giving it
through the funds, associations, and their park fees.
These demonstration fees should be made permanent because they have
become an essential part of preserving our most popular and beloved
parks. But, ironically, the National Park pass is beginning to threaten
the success story. This was further complicated by our so-called
technical corrections to the National Parks' Omnibus Management Act.
Each park has historically kept most of the demonstration fee
collected at the gate. Because most projects require planning of
multiple years, they plan ahead. Parks also get to keep a significant
percentage of the national parks pass fees sold at that park. But as
more parks put in demo fees and as demo fees have risen, those who
visit multiple parks or visit one park frequently obviously purchase a
pass. The more passes sold disadvantage the more remote parks.
Demonstration fees not collected or passes not sold at those parks
dramatically reduce the revenue at those parks which was, after all,
the original purpose.
Furthermore, the Technical Corrections Act set aside 15 percent of
sales for administration and promotion of the National Parks Pass.
Obviously we have administration costs, and that is a whole other
subject. But why are we promoting the national parks pass? National
sales and Internet take dollars from specific parks, draining the
original intent. There is no data to suggest that promoting the pass in
general increases usage of the parks. It just goes to the Washington
office rather than the individual park. And even if it did increase
usage, that is the wrong goal.
Parks with demonstration fees which need a pass are generally nearly
overcrowded in peak seasons already. Why would we want to have more
people go to them? Every person who purchases a day pass at a park is
given the option of purchasing a national parks pass, so no one is
getting shortchanged. Furthermore, the cost of the national parks pass
has become too low. As some parks go up to $30, we need to reevaluate
the system.
We need to look at making it $100 and there are two problems with
that: Low-income families and local residents. A ZIP code criteria for
a lower fee is a possibility. Although there is no philosophical
defense for that, it may need to be a practical consideration. A
refundable tax credit for low-income families would address the income
problem. It would cost the government nothing because the people who
laid out the $100 are just getting it back, likely would cost the parks
little, but would eliminate the complaint that poor families could not
afford the $100. If we do not address this problem, our park revenue is
going to decline. It is something we must address for the sake of our
national parks.
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